IMPORTANT A/N: Hi! Um, I haven't updated this story in a hot minute because, well, it's complete. But I've decided to rewrite this story and so I wanted people to know that, so, uh, yeah, that's the purpose of this awkward chapter. Here's a peek for those who are curious – I promise, my writing is so much better than it was when I last wrote something for LIHE. If you want to read the rewrite, it should be up now on my account. I'll be updating it chapter by chapter.

Title: Revival

Summary: In death, she falls, and in life, she rises. Thrown into a life of war, grief guides her sword, revenge sharpening its blade. Yet, the world beneath pities the warrior, for underneath her thick armor lies a lonely girl searching for a home that doesn't exist. [OC-Insert, Semi AU]

PREVIEW:

Dying on your birthday is ironic, to say the least.

Growing up, Kiara was the epitome of the sappy American suburban household: a stay-at-home mother, a father who worked a nine to five job, an annoying younger brother, and an overly-friendly golden retriever. She woke up, went to school, gossiped over pointless matters, and took the bus home. She would say hi to her seventy-year-old neighbor who brought over cookies every weekend and ignored the rude one who hated her from across the street.

She was simply a small-town girl from Upstate New York who, after graduating, tried living in a big city. So if you looked at the way she lived during college, it was bound to end as badly as it did.

Because of her terrible decision making, Kiara would never know whether or not she would walk across that stage to receive her college diploma after countless late nights of studying; she would never know the love of another person nor the warmth of her own child in her arms. She would never feel proud of her little brother, graduating from high school to begin his journey into adulthood because...if she had known her life would end the way it did, she would have never taken the first vodka shot that led to countless more, only to then take out her phone hours later to walk across the street in a drunken haze, unaware of the headlights that shined in her direction.

Crash and bang, and that was that.

There were so many things Kiara would do over again, had she known that she was going to die the day she turned twenty.

But that isn't what this story is about, is it? It's not about the changes a girl made in her life to prevent her death, or the story of what would have been her simple, humane life.

Oh, but don't worry, dear reader – this story is about her, that much is true. But to know the truth behind this story, you must read on.

PREVIEW END